Cleaning cotton sweepings



Patented Nov. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLEANING COTTON SWEEPIN GS Joseph W. ltowersox, Berwyn, 111., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Burton-Dixie Corporatron, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application January 24, 1930, Serial No. 423,283

4 Claims. (Cl. 19-66) The present invention relates to improvements in cleaning cotton sweepings, and similar cotton wastes, and will be fully understood from the following description thereof.

Cotton sweepings, such as are secured from carding and spinning rooms, usually contain from 8 to 10% of oil, together with dirt, strings, rags and other extraneous materials, so intimately admixed with and absorbed by the cotton fiber that it has not been practical hitherto to satisfactorily and economically clean the material and adapt it for further use wherein clean, sanitary, buoyant cotton fiber is required, as in mattresses, cotton batts, upholstering and the like. In accordance with the present process, however, such materials are thoroughly cleaned, the oil largely removed and a buoyant, sanitary utilizable product is secured, without the use of the wet cleaning and bleaching process which has hitherto been employed.

It has hitherto been proposed to remove oil, grease and the like from wool fiber containing additional dirt and extraneous material by dusting the fiber with various pulverulent absorbent materials and thereupon beating or carding the wool fibers over a screen to remove the dust, dirt and foreign matter together with the absorbent pulverulent material and such grease or oil as may be held by it. It has been found, however, that such an operation, as applied to cotton fibers such as the sweepings hereinbefore referred to, is ineffective in producing any substantial removal of the dirt, oil and grease contained in the fiber. In accordance with the present invention, however, an adequate removal of oil and grease from such cotton fiber may be secured by thoroughly incorporating with the fibrous material a substantial quantity of the pulverulent absorbent material (the fiber being preferably preliminarily cleaned by removal of coarser nonadherent dirt, string, rags and the like) and the mixture of fiber and absorbent material permitted to stand for a substantial period of time; whereupon, on removal of the pulverulent absorbent material, substantially all of the oil and adherent dirt is removed.

In carrying out the invention, the waste cotton sweepings or similar material is preferably first thoroughly beaten and screened, for example, as in an ordinary beater or willow, to remove from the sweepings the separable dirt, dust, cord, rags and the like. While this preliminary beating and cleaning of the sweepings may be dispensed with, if desired, it is preferred that it be employed as thereby the efficiency of separation of oil, grease and adherent dirt from the sweepings in the subsequent steps of the process is greatly facilitated.

The fibers, after the preliminary cleaning or beating operation, are conveyed to a suitable mixing device, wherein a substantial proportion of a 0 pulverulent absorbent material is thoroughly intermixed with the cotton ,fiber. The usual pneumatic conveying means fortransferring the fiber is preferred. In ordinary practice, the desired proportion of the pulverulent absorbent material is sprinkled or dusted upon the fiber as it enters an ordinary combing or carding device, in passage through which a thorough intermixture of the puverulent material and the fiber is secured. It has hitherto been proposed to thoroughly intermix small proportions of pulverulent absorbent material with wool fiber or the like by combing or carding and at the same time screening, so that the agitation during the process will effect at the same time an intermix- 'ture of the absorbent material with the fiber and sift out the absorbent material. However, such a process has been found ineffective in securing an efficient cleaning, particularly with cotton fibers,

and in accordance with the present invention,

separation of the pulverulent material during the mixing operation is not permitted. On the contrary, the thoroughly intermixed fiber and absorbent material are conveyed to suitable storage containers or bins in which they are permitted to stand in intimate admixture until an effective absorption of oil, grease and adherent dirt has been effected.

Thus, with cotton sweepings containing 8 to 10% of oil or grease, first preliminarily cleaned to Q remove heavier non-adherent dirt, cord, rags and the like, as hereinbefore described, at least 10 to 15 lbs. of the absorbent material are applied for each 100 lbs. of the cotton sweepings, and preferably 30 to 40 lbs. are used. Any suitable efficient pulverulent absorbent may be employed, for example, fullers earth, infusorial earth, powdered limestone or the like. I prefer to employ powdered limestone, as by its use I am able 100 terial is substantially complete, as indicated by no the fact that after such a period, no appreciable or economical difference in the cleaning and absorptive action is observed.

After the mixture has been allowed to stand until the absorptive and cleaning'action is complete, the fiber is put through an ordinary cleaning or beating action to shake off and remove the absorbent material with the absorbed oil, grease and adherent dirt. The oil and grease in the fiber. after the completion of the operation, as determined by the usual methods, is ordinarily 3% or lower, the perceptible grease is completely removed, as well as the adherent dirt, so that the product is clean, buoyant. sanitary and,v from commercial standards, free of oil.

I claim:

7 1. The method of cleaning cotton waste rendered greasy and moist by contact with mineral oil, which consists in agitating the .greasy moist waste to open the fibers and remove debris therefrom, mixing the greasy opened cotton fibers with a chemically inert moisture absorbent material, agitating the fibers and absorbent material to cause the oil and moisture in the fibers to be absorbed by. the said absorbent material, and removing the oil and moisture saturated material from the agitated fibers.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1, in which the absorbent material is powdered limestone.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1, in which the absorbent material is maintained in contact with the cotton fibres for a period of a least two hours.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1, in which the absorbent material is maintained in contact with the cotton fibres for a period of the order of 24 hours.

JOSEPH W. BQWERSOX. 

